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Tag: ps3

The Power Geeks #104

by DarthMolen on Jun.08, 2011, under The Latest Shows

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We are LIVE on Ustream. Tonight we talk E3, The new Wii Controller, Some Apple Stuffs, New movie releases, and even the surprise average age of gamers…

Intro Natali
Intro Ben

Items of Interest

  • Instructables (udg)
    • It occurred to me today that I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned one of my absolute favorite sites on here. I have mentioned Etsy and it’s crack-like ability to suck me in for hours. Well, Instructables is it’s counter-part. It is THE site for anyone that’s ever wanted how to make…. well anything. I’m not kidding! From a PC Case out of a mannequin to cupcakes and every possible thing in between, there’s an instructables for that.
  • Bring Me the Head of Green Lantern (btm)
    • Made by Schell Sculpture Studio
    • They design concept art for TV and Movies
    • Creating a Hal Jordan bust based on the DC Comics character

Open Source Flashlight (SM)

  • Started by
  • 500 Lumen bulb (high end) 350 lumen at the low end
  • Fully Open source (you can change how bright, blink, modes, from your computer)
  • top end is USB chargeable (about time, most tac lights take expensive batteries)
  • On a kickstarter but already exceeded their goal by more than double
  • I totally bought the ultra bright one
  • The World of Mistrunner (udg)
    • With 28 days to go, I really wanted to mention this awesome kickstarter from our loyal chat room member and friend Naked Hobo again.
    • What is Mistrunner? In the creator’s words it’s a RPG set in world of high fantasy, steampunk and a bit of post apocalyptic action thrown in as well. What I see is an amazing game, ney world, he has crafted out of obvious love. One of the things that makes me most proud to be a gnork is the support that we all give each other. Bound together by the very things that set us apart. Please help us support this project. Times are tough and that’s understandable. If you can give $1, that’s awesome and it will get you listed in the book as a Patron. If you can’t, that’s okay too. What you can do it blog about it, tweet about it, FB it, carrier pigeon it, get it out to everyone you know and help make this dream a reality.
  • Wanna iPad laptop? (btm)
    • Nifty device from Crux
    • The Crux Loaded features a clamshell keyboard case, Bluetooth trackpad and external battery to turn your iPad into a more laptop-like device.
    • Available this fall.
  • Star Wars Rubber Duckies (udg)
    • Rubber duckies are kind of awesome. Now you can haz Star Wars themed rubber duckies complete with 45 battery life LED lights in them. A rubber ducky you can be proud to bring in the tub or pool this summer.

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Deals of the Week / New Releases

  • Subway Goes All Out for Green Lantern (udg)
    • Subway has launched a new promo that could have you unlocking awards like free Green Lantern movie tickets and other stuff.  Want in?
      • Download the SCVNGR app for your iPhone or droid.
      • Complete easy challenges
      • Win prizes and rewards.
    • Pretty simple. Oh and grand prize? Tickets to the Green Lantern Premiere in LA.
  • New Movie Releases for 1st Week June
    • (SM) Epic Westerns Alert:
      • The Outlaw Jose Waley (clint eastwood) – I <3 The Good, The Bad, The Ugly hardcore, I gotta see this. Characterized as the “Best Mythic Western Ever”
      • the Long Riders – James and the Gang – Best Western Period
      • True Grit – Remake by Coen
    • Superman: The Anthology (1978 – 2006) – Holy Crap…
      • everything you could want including
      • 2 versions of Superman and Superman 2
      • All the 1950’s Superman cartoons
      • Outtakes from the Brian Singer Superman Returns
      • 8 full Blu-Ray Discs – Much Much more… all for under $100
    • The Man Who Would Be King – Sean Connery, Michael Caine, when men were men
    • Burial Ground – Italian Zombies
    • The Stuntman – Real Men, Doing Real Stunts, On real movies back in the day

Entertainment Geekly (new feature) (SM- Awesome Title Natali!)

  • Eliza to Star in Torchwood Spinoff (udg)
    • Eliza Dushku has officially signed on to star in a new Torchwood animated spinoff web-series. It’s an animated motion comics series called Torchwood: Web of Lies, and it’s based on Starz upcoming series Torchwood: Miracle Day. The animated series will also include voice appearances by Torchwood stars John Barrowman as Capt. Jack Harkness and Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper.
    • The new series is being written by Jane Espenson, who worked with Dushku on Dollhouse and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s also worked on Battlestar Galactica and Torchwood. Ryan Scott is also a co-writer on the series.
    • The series will consist of 10 three-minute videos, and will be released before the Torchwood premiere on July 8th. The plan is to release a new episode online after each new Miracle Day episode.Miracle Day episode.
  • Penny Arcade Strip Inspires a Movie (udg)
    • It started as a comic but Penny Arcade has expanded into video games, a charity, merchandise, conventions and now…. the film.
    • According to the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount is producing an animated movie based on Penny Arcade’s “The New Kid” comic strip. The comic was published this past October and focuses on a young boy who is constantly switching schools because his father’s job takes him to different planets.
    • Gary Whitta, the former editor-in-chief of PC Gamer magazine and writer of The Book of Eli and a number of games (including Gears of War), will write the movie’s script.
    • (SM) when are they going to do “Automata” already?
    • (SM) FYI, they’re doing a boardgame based upon “The Lookouts” – Think Boy Scouts meets D&D
  • There Will Be a Full Season 7 for Doctor Who (btm)
    • Kasterborous site reported over the weekend that BBC Wales (producers of the popular Doctor Who series) was planning a truncated 7th season consisting of only 4 or 5 “specials”.
    • BBC officials were upset as this would leave gaping holes in their programming.
    • After watching fans react over the weekend BBC and Doctor Who producers calmed everyone’s nerves by announcing Tuesday that the 7th season would be a full, 13 episode season and current Doctor Matt Smith would be appearing in them.
    • Showrunner Steven Moffat tweeted:
      • “14 eps + Matt DEFINITELY. I’ve got a plan and I’m NOT TELLING YOU WHAT IT IS. Now hush or River shoots you with her Spoiler Gun.”
    • Nerds throughout the Commonwealth sighed in audible relief.

Geek Speak

PSA: CEA trying to sell off free over-the-air HDTV Bandwidth (SM)

  • They want to let the “free market” soak up all the bandwidth you could be using for free
  • Cite low number who actually use the service.
  • (SM) HANDS OUT OF MY COOKIE JAR
  • dual analog controller,
  • front and rear camera,
  • OLED touch screen type,
  • touchpad on the back.
  • V4-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and a
  • 200 MHz SGX543MP4+ GPU.
    • Playstation 3D TV
      • Non-split screen mode where both can play on the full screen
      • 24” 3D TV
      • Good glasses for $4.99
    • New Nintendo Console
      • Wii U, Wii U (btm.. like an amblance)
      • 480i to 1080p, HDMI output
      • Flash based memory + sd card slot + usb for external storage
      • Awesome controller that is
        • touch capable
        • a cross between a ds and a dreamcast controller
        • (think mini-tablet w/ 6 inch screen and motion controls)
        • can play games independent of Wii
        • Interact with games on the screen
        • (SM) I actually want one of these :D
        • This has SUCH amazing potential it’s unbelievable. I’m seeing people either geeked to get theirs or declaring it the beginning of the end of Nintendo. I am definitely leaning much more toward the geeked side. (udg)

Tech, Gaming, and Geek News

  • EA’s Origin Takes on Steam and Games for Windows (udg)
    • Electronic Arts announced some pretty big news with the launch of the Origin game store and social network, a direct-download game marketplace and social service for gamers who play EA titles. It is available now and came out the gate with over 150 EA titles. In the future they will be publishing all their new games, including Battlefield 3, FIFA 12, and games from partner studios in the Origin store.
    • Sound a bit familiar? Add to that an application on your system that will manage installations, licensing, updates, and new purchases for you electronically and keep track of your achievements, let you connect with other people who play the same games, and share what you’re playing with friends. Yeah, I’m guessing right about now Steam and Games for Windows are popping in your head.
    • Back when Steam first launched, the took a huge chance. It was untested and both gamers and publishers were clueless as to whether digital distribution would even really work. Steam is a HUGE success, Microsoft can’t really claim that with their Games for Windows.
    • There is one area Origin is taking gamers that Steam and Games isn’t and that is onto mobile devices. EA plans to give gamers a way to connect with Origin, find their friends, and play multiplayer games with them. They even tipped there’ll be a mobile version of Battlefield 3 that will be playable using Origin. They’re also plannig exclusive content, game releases, downloads, and easy purchasing through the Origin store.
    • The big question that goes unanswered with all of this news however is whether or not EA will pull its game library from other digital download stores because they’re launching their own. Many gamers already have both Steam and Games for Windows on their systems, and Mac users have adopted Steam wholeheartedly. We’ll have to see if EA moves to force people who want their games to install Origin to buy and download them.
  • Poor Sony, Still free game (sm)
    • Sony Music Brazil, Russia, and their Internal network were all hacked
    • a subversion repository was released on the Internet
    • a group called “lulzec” has essentially declared war against Sony
    • “We\’ve recently bought a copy of this great new game called \”Hackers vs Sony\”, but we\’re unable to play it online due to PSN being obliterated. So we decided to play offline mode for a while and got quite a few trophies. Our latest goal is \”Hack Sony 5 Times\”, so please find enclosed our 5th Sony hack. Enjoy this 54MB collection of SVN Sony Developer source code. That\’s hackers 16, Sony 0. Your move!”
    • Still no idea what Sony did to become such a target for hackers….
    • Their stock has fallen like 29%
  • Steve Jobs Wants to Build Giant Spaceship-Shaped Headquarters (btm)
    • Jobs presented his plans for the new 150 acre property at the televised Cupertino City Council meeting on Tuesday.
    • Currently Apple employees are scattered throughout the city in rented buildings and office space
    • The new campus would place 12,000 or 13,000 employees into one giant 4 story oval shaped complex.
    • Moving parking underground allows for 80% of the campus to be landscaped and filled with 6,000 trees.
    • Company plans to build its own “energy center” to power the complex
    • Jobs reminded the Council that Apple pays more taxes than any other company in the city, and while they would love to remain in Cupertino, it would be a shame if they had to move somewhere else like Mountain View in order to build their complex.
    • Is it just me or is this starting to sound like a Bond Villain’s lair?
  • Apple Paying Up to $150 Mil to Music Labels for iCloud (udg)
    • With Universal Music now along for the ride, Apple has officially signed the last of 4 deals with 4 major music labels and will now be able to launch its iCloud streaming and storage service. And they’ve ponied up a healthy sum in return for permission to access their content in the cloud.
    • According to the NY Post, Apple is paying between $100- $150 million UPFRONT to the labels. Business Insider stated “Apple has $66 billion in cash and long-term and short-term securities.” So, basically, spending up to $150 million to avoid any future lawsuits from these music labels is really not a big deal for Apple.” When you phrase it that way, yeah it’s really not.
    • Both Amazon and Google, however, launched their own cloud music services without any sort of contract from any of the labels. Amazon claimed it didn’t need any licenses to store music since its service works pretty much like an external hard drive. A user has to upload each song one by one to be able to access their content in the cloud.
    • Apple defines the iCloud as “iCloud is so much more than a hard drive in the sky. It’s the effortless way to access just about everything on all your devices. iCloud stores your content so it’s always accessible from your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. It gives you instant access to your music, apps, latest photos, and more. And it keeps your email, contacts, and calendars up to date across all your devices. No syncing required. No management required. In fact, no anything required. iCloud does it all for you.”
    • Pricing seems to be up in the air a bit. We know that the first 5gb is free. We know that they’ve talked about a $25 yearly fee. What we don’t know exactly how much storage that $25 will get you.
    • According to Apple’s site, Free Gets You A Lot. When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. And that’s plenty of room, because of the way iCloud stores your content. Your purchased music, apps, and books, as well as your Photo Stream, don’t count against your free storage. That leaves your mail, documents, Camera Roll, account information, settings, and other app data. And since those things don’t use as much space, you’ll find that 5GB goes a long way.
    • Apple is said to be taking 30 percent of iCloud revenue, whereas the labels will be getting 58 percent. The New York Post said Apple has finalized deals with the necessary music publishers, who will be getting 12 percent of the revenue.
    • Now, I’ve been pretty open about my skepticism about the almighty cloud and I can hear Steven ITCHING to blurt out some “worship at the alter of Apple” comment. But, I’m on the fence. On the one hand, if anyone is going to protect my stuff, it’s gonna be Apple. On the other hand, this is a hacker’s wet dream. In the end, I honestly trust that if this bad boy wasn’t a zillion per cent locked down and safe, it wouldn’t be launched this Fall. Bottom line? I’ll do what I do when it comes to EVERY Apple item- I never jump aboard right out the gate. With this I’ll give it a few weeks for the kinks to get worked out and the hackers to give it their best. When all has died down, then I’ll give it a go.
  • MacOS X “Lion” Unveiled at WWDC (btm)
    • Scheduled for a July release.
    • It will be a Mac App Store exclusive download for $29
    • Begins to incorporate some of the better elements of iOS to MacOS
      • Multi-touch gestures
      • Full screen applications
      • Mission Control
      • Auto-Save and versioning
      • Redesigned Apple Mail
      • Better Search features
    • 4GB download
  • China Warns Google (udg)
    • Dear Google, I heart you. So, according to an official Beijing newspaper Monday, Google has become a “political tool” vilifying the Chinese Government. In fact they flat out warned that the Internet giant’s statements about hacking attacks traced to China could hurt its business. Of course this all appeared in the leading newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party.
    • Why exactly does China have it’s cha in a bunch? (btw thank you google translate) Last week Google came forward with news it had broken up yet another effort to steal the passwords of hundreds of Google email account holders, including Chinese human rights advocates and journalists and oh US GOVT OFFICIALS. And that these attacks seemed to come from China.
    • Of course the Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected those accusations, and then whipped out the warning to Google about  playing a risky political game. On the front page no less. According to the paper, by saying that Chinese human rights activists were among the targets of the hacking, Google was “deliberately pandering to negative Western perceptions of China, and strongly hinting that the hacking attacks were the work of the Chinese government.”
    • “Google’s accusations aimed at China are spurious, have ulterior motives, and bear malign intentions,” said the commentary, written by an editor at the paper.
    • “Google should not become overly embroiled in international political struggle, playing the role of a tool for political contention,” the paper added. For when the international winds shift direction, it may become sacrificed to politics and will be spurned by the marketplace,” it said, without specifying how Google’s business could be hurt.
    • A Google spokeswoman said the U.S. firm had no comment on the remarks. If I were that spokeswoman, you know I’d have had some comments.
    • Why is China REALLY upset? Google said last week that the hacking attacks appeared to come from Jinan, the capital of China’s eastern Shandong province and home to an intelligence unit of the People’s Liberation Army.
    • U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates over the weekend warned that Washington was prepared to use force against cyber-attacks it considered acts of war.  Hacking a major US company to obtain passwords to US Govt Official’s passwords could very well fall under that category. And to think I joked about hacking Google probably not being considered and act of war. Thank you China for proving me wrong. And eff you if you think your silly threats will actually have a negative effect on Google.
  • France Bans “Facebook” and “Twitter From the Media (btm)
    • Ban goes back to a 1992 French law that prohibits mentioning the services due to it being a form of advertising and preferential treatment.
    • Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (organization responsible for regulating French electronic media) says,
    • “Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition?”
    • To get around the rules French broadcasters will start saying “Find us on social networking sites” or hope they will find links to their Facebook and Twitter pages via their web site links.
  • Average Gamer Age Surprising!! (SM)
    • Guess the Age (SM- I know, I know!!)
    • Average Game Buyer? 41 yrs old
    • FTC Undercover Shopper program:
    • only 17% of ppl over 17 were able to buy M-rated games
    • contract: 38% under 18 were allowed to buy R-Rated movies
    • All published by the ESA (they regulate the ratings on games)
    • 25 billion dollars spent on games in the last yr / 5 billion online
  • Droid 3 Videos Leaked (udg)
    • In case you haven’t heard, a trio of training videos complete with some basic how-to instructions for the upcoming Motorola Droid 3 were posted to YouTube this weekend by “Phonepads.” Not surprisingly, Motorola has had them yanked. Of course, it’s the intarwebs so a number of other YouTube and Vimeo users have re-posted them.
    • So what can we learn from them? Well they give us a a pretty decent tour of the yet-unreleased Droid 3 complete with where all the buttons and ports will all be. Just like the original Droid and #2, the keypad will slide-out but it’s going to have a 5th row of # keys up top so you so’t have to hit Alt and then the combo letter/number key anymore.
    • While the video makes it pretty clear that what you see may not be the final product, it looks like it’s going to come with Gingerbread pre-installed, sport an 8 megapixel cam with LED flash on the back of 1080p video and probably sport a dual-core processor.
    • Some other notable stuffs- they added an HDMI port on the side, the power button is on the center top of the phone now and the screen looks bigger, but they don’t say how large it is.
    • No leak is thorough it seems so there are still some unanswered questions out there. I think one of the biggest is whether this will be a 4G LTE phone or not. Others maybe storage or processor speed.
    • I’m on the side of those that feel Motorola pulled the “controlled leak” card with this (especially with it being on the heels of the big Apple’s big annual WW Developers Conference) so expect to hear more soon.
  • DC Comics Resets to #1 (once again) and Announces Day & Date Delivery (btm)
    • Last week’s big news in the comic world was thought to be the renumbering of DC Comics to #1 and a total restructuring and sometimes redesign of characters in the DC Universe.
    • The “real” big news was the announcement of Day & Date Digital Delivery
    • JLA #1 will be released in print and digital formats the same day and this is the first of many.
    • Many are concerned this will hurt comic book retailers as comic readers will now be able to get their fix digitally instead of driving to the stores.
    • Expect Marvel to follow suit later in the summer.

Intarweb Goldmine

  • Friendly PSA For Our FL Listeners (udg)
    • On May 21, 2011, a bronze statue of three dolphins was taken in at Allied Recycling located 3770 Veronica Shoemaker Boulevard Fort Myers, Florida. Allied Recycling contacted Law Enforcement believing the statue was connected to Lee County Sheriff’s Office burglary investigation from North Fort Myers, Florida. Unfortunately this did not belong to that particular victim.
    • Local Law Enforcement believes that this statue belongs to a victim who may not have reported it stolen. If you or someone you know had a 300lbs bronze dolphin statue stolen, please call the Cape Coral Police Department at 239-574-3223.
    • Okay, seriously who the HELL steals a 300lb statue!?!? Of dolphins.
  • “Thanks For Taking My Money, A–hole!” (btm)
    • Austin area movie theater has a strict “no talking, no texting policy”
    • Recently they ask a theater patron to leave
    • The upset patron called the theater’s customer service line and left an empassioned, expletive laced message expressing her displeasure at being asked to leave.
    • Theater now plays the uncut message as their “Don’t Talk or Text” PSA before R-rated movies.
  • Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (udg)
    • Now, there’s nothing wrong with driving with the top down. Driving with YOUR top down, a whole other story. Especially when you’re drunk and carrying marijuana in your purse.
    • Florida police pulled Keila De Oliveria Leite over for driving erratically, on the wrong side of the road, 20 miles below the speed limit and oh passing a Martin County deputy who tried to stop her.
    • When they did finally get her to stop, Keila was naked from the waist up and had weed sticking out of her purse. A search of her car found a pot pipe too. To top it all off, this classy chick got all kinds of feisty about putting her shirt back on. They did manage to get one on her for her mug shot. Yeah, she failed several sobriety tests and has been charged with  driving under the influence and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Guess they must have been feeling kind, or appreciative, because no indecent exposure charges were made.
  • 51 yr old Lady Charged with Pushing Garbage Full of Body Parts (SM)
    • Police in California strolled up on an older lady pushing garbage
    • Guess what was inside? A fully dismembered decomposing Human
    • Yeah, they’re not sure where he came from
    • Either homicide or disenterment are the two theories
    • The lady ain’t commenting on who her victim in the 30 gallon garbage is
    • (sm) My thoughts? Not only Zombies love brainzzzz
  • These Ain’t No Crop Circles (udg)
    • One of the sheer joys of Google Maps is the photos it manages to catch. Some are downright hilarious, well unless you’re the folks at Fairfield College in the North Island town of Hamilton.  Seems while looking for a home in the area, Kiwi David McQuoid spotted a photo from the campus featuring several cartoon-like phalluses in various sizes- some several meters across.
    • The school’s acting principal said it was hard enough to deal with it when it happened back in 2009.
    • It happened over a weekend but it wasn’t until the grass died off bit by bit that phallic symbols started to pop up around the school grounds. Every week another crude image revealed itself, much to the dismay of staff. “There’s not really much we could do about it,” he told a newspaper. “The caretaker took some more weedkiller and tried to camouflage it a bit.”
    • The culprits were never caught and the prank probably would have passed into schoolboy folklore had it not been captured by Google Maps.
    • The red-faced principal said he would be contacting Google to plead for the image’s removal but an internet privacy specialist said it was difficult to get such satellite photographs changed or blurred.
    • Kiwis however, thought the prank was hilarious, with 70 adding mostly encouraging comments to the online story, like “Freakin brilliant!!! Love it!!! Classic piece of adolescent artwork.”
    • One gave the artists an A+, top marks for cunning, planning, chemistry and geometry, while another said their anatomy detailing left a lot to be desired.
    • “I totally reckon it was actually girls,” they wrote. See, if they were made THAT big, yeah it wasn’t girls.
    • Then came a confession: “HAHAHA!!! we did this as our 7th form prank, now it lives on! how awesome!”

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